’Dub Weekly: Defending champion Oil Kings the team to beat

Kristen Odland, Calgary Herald03.19.2013

Edmonton Oil Kings goalie and Calgary Flames prospect Laurent Brossoit fends off a shot from Calgary Hitmen forward Brooks Macek during WHL action earlier this season. Both Edmonton and Calgary will be teams to beat in the Eastern Conference and could conceivably meet in the league semifinals.

Hat backwards and casually clad in plaid, Laurent Brossoit is the face of the Western Hockey League playoffs.

And, speaking from experience — the Edmonton Oil Kings’ 2012 WHL championship high followed by a crushing performance at the Memorial Cup — it’s just about as real as it gets.

“With pressure comes adrenalin and motivation,” he is saying to the camera crew of WHL Full-On, a behind-the-scenes look at the league on Shaw. “Going through playoffs last year, I just figured with the pressure, I was excited and I wanted to play the games.

“It all kind of just fell by the wayside.”

The video clip — available on Twitter (@WHLFullOn) — is short, merely a teaser for an upcoming episode heading into the 2013 WHL post-season.

But basically, it sums up this year’s theme: will Brossoit and the Oil Kings be able to repeat this year?

Certainly, no one is questioning if they want to. A franchise-record 51 wins and 108-points. Another Eastern Conference title. An even deeper and developed team than last year.

They are hard to beat at home, equally tough to beat on the road, and have a goalie who has been hot ever since his Canadian world junior team snub.

Yet all of those accomplishments, Brossoit implies, can slip through your fingers in an instant. It’s over before you know it.

This week, though, the grind begins again — Round 1 of four with the possibility of 28 more games ahead, not including the coveted (and slippery) Memorial Cup. As the No. 1 seed in the East, Edmonton faces the upstart Kootenay Ice to kick things off.

Nothing is guaranteed, of course, but consider the Calgary Hitmen to challenge the Oil Kings in the Eastern Conference final. An early first-round exit last year left them bitter and injured, but now they’re stronger than ever. If things go Calgary’s way, they could quite possibly upset the defending champions. The third-seeded Hitmen (which face the sixth-seeded Swift Current Broncos in the first round) are deep, healthy, and won the season series (4-2).

There’s also the motivated Saskatoon Blades, the 2013 Memorial Cup hosts and second-seeded team, which have won 25 of 34 games in 2013 including a ridiculous 18-game winning streak. The Prince Albert Raiders or Red Deer Rebels could also put up a battle.

In the Western Conference, all signs are pointing to the offensively-gifted Portland Winterhawks to repeat as challengers for a WHL title.

However, do not count out the Kelowna Rockets, the league’s best home-team, or the Kamloops Blazers. Both been on significant tears this year and know how to string together wins.

That being said, anything could happen as proven in the Western Conference playdowns last year.

In 2012, the third-ranked Portland Winterhawks had the second-seeded Kamloops Blazers against the ropes and facing elimination in the fourth game. The Blazers stormed back and forced a Game 7 but fell to the Winterhawks in the end. Then, in the West final, the top ranked Tri-City Americans were swept by Portland.

At any rate, here is how the first round stacks up:

WHL Playoffs

First Round Match-Ups

Action starts Thursday and should be wrapped up April 3

Eastern Conference quarter-finals

Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8)

Saskatoon (2) vs. Medicine Hat (7)

Calgary (3) vs. Swift Current (6)

Red Deer (4) vs. Prince Albert (5)

Western Conference quarter-finals

Portland (1) vs. Everett (8)

Kelowna (2) vs. Seattle (7)

Kamloops (3) vs. Victoria (6)

Spokane (4) vs. Tri-City (5)

ICE CHIPS:

Portland Winterhawks forward Nicolas Petan is the WHL player of the week for the second time this season. Petan, 17, collected 9 points, scoring one goal and eight assists to go with a +5 rating in three games over the past week, helping the Winterhawks to a 4-0-0-0 record . . . He and teammate Brendan Leipsic were co-winners of the WHL scoring trophy (the Bob Clarke Trophy) with 120 points apiece . . . The WHL also nominated Corbin Boes of the Brandon Wheat Kings for the CHL goalie of the week award with a 2-0-0-0 record this past week, stopping 78 of 80 shots faced for a 0.975 save percentage and 0.83 goals-against average . . . The first-round series between Medicine Hat and Saskatoon will be live (SHAW Channel 304 and SHAW Direct Channel 299) . . . Kelowna was dealt a huge blow on Monday, revealing that Colton Sissons would be out for the post-season with an upper body injury. A tough pill to swallow considering he also missed the Canadian world junior selection camp with an injury . . . The 2013 WHL bantam draft lottery is set for Wednesday at the WHL offices in Calgary. The drill involves the six-non playoff teams to determined the first six picks in the first round of the Tyler Benson sweepstakes . . . Last-place Vancouver gets six balls, followed by Prince George (five), Brandon (four), Regina (three), Moose Jaw (two), Lethbridge (one).

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